1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lift attached to an undercarriage of a vehicle, the lift being used to raise and lower a platform between a door of the vehicle and ground level in order to assist mobility limited people in ingress into and egress from the vehicle.
2. Background of the Prior Art
As many American enter their retirement years, they are hitting the road to see this great country. No job, no kids at home, no worries, just pack up and travel wherever the heart and the map (or GPS) dictate. Although many long-term travelers use hotels and motels along the way, an increasing number of travelers prefer to use a recreation vehicle (RV) as their mode of transport as well as lodging. The RV, whether towed or self-locomoted, eliminates the need to pack and unpack regularly, allows the travelers to have a kitchen and dining area for meal preparation and consumption, and basically serves as a home away from home.
While the RV is a great travel tool, many travelers, by being up in their years, have limited mobility, either walking with assistance devices such as canes or walkers, or are confined to a wheelchair or scooter for their locomotion needs. Although such travelers tend to get by with their limitations, ingress into and egress from the RV can be a challenge, especially for wheelchair bound travelers.
To address this concern, devices have been proposed that assist such limited mobility RV users with RV ingress and egress. Such devices provide a mechanical assist to limited mobility travelers and come in one of two broad categories. One type of assist device is installed within the interior of the RV. When use of the device is desired, the device is unfolded, either manually or automatically so that a lift platform is positioned exterior of the RV. The user either walks or rolls onto the platform and the platform is lowered, either via an electric or hydraulic motor. For RV ingress, the lift platform is lowered to ground level, the person steps or rolls onto the lift platform, and the platform is raised by the motor until the platform is at entry level in order to allow the user to walk or roll off of the platform into the RV. The device is then folded up and stowed back within the interior of the RV. While such devices work with varying degrees of efficiency, they tend to be unusually complex in design making such devices very expensive to purchase as well as maintain. Additionally, installation of these interior mounted devices can be quite cumbersome, often requiring extensive modifications to the RV, modifications many owners are very reluctant to make. Additionally, when not in use, such devices occupy a substantial amount of the limited real estate available within the interior of the RV.
The other maintain of assist device is mounted on an exterior of the RV, usually underneath the RV attached to the undercarriage of the RV. When use of the device is needed, the lift platform is moved into position from underneath the RV, either manually or under power from the device. The person steps or rolls onto the lift platform and the lift platform lowers the person to the ground via an electric or hydraulic motor. In order for the person to ingress the RV, the reverse occurs with the person walking or rolling onto the lift platform, and the platform is raised by the motor in order to allow the user to walk or roll off of the platform into the RV. The device is then stowed underneath the RV until it is again needed. The problem with these exterior mounted devices is that they too tend to be complex in design so that they are expensive to manufacture and maintain. Many of these devices also require an undesired extensive modification of the RV. Additionally, these devices tend to have a fairly high profile which can be problematic with many RVs, especially RVs that are towed by a tow vehicle, as many such RVs have a very low ground clearance to begin with. Addition of a high profile lifting apparatus depending downwardly from the undercarriage of a low clearance vehicle can present problems, especially at campgrounds where the road is less than ideally smooth. Furthermore, when these types of devices are retrieved from the undercarriage and placed into the ready position, the lift platform is located at approximately the plane of the undercarriage. As the plane of the floor of the interior of the RV is above the plane of the undercarriage, the lift platform is below the floor level. This requires a small step down from the RV to the lift platform (or a small step up from the lift platform to the RV), which may not be a major problem to a user walking with a cane, but can prove quite problematic to a wheelchair bound user.
What is needed is a system whereby a person can be raised and lowered between the door of an RV and ground level, which system addresses the above noted shortcomings found in the art. Specifically, such a system must be of relatively simple design and construction so that the device is relatively easy and inexpensive to manufacture so as to be readily affordable to a large segment of potential consumers for this type of product. Such a system must be relatively easy to install onto the RV without the need to make extensive modifications to the RV. Such a system must not rob the interior of the RV of any of the limited and valuable real estate within the RV. Ideally, such a system should allow a smooth transition between the RV and the system's lift platform as well as between the lift platform and ground level, so that all users, including wheelchair bound users can use the system with ease and efficiency.